This is a twist on Australian celebrity chef Bill Granger's recipe; his uses macadamia nuts, this one opts for the more affordable almond and is still delicious.

Ingredients

6 eggs

1 to 2 limes

1 cup (250ml) ground almonds

½ cup (125ml) sweetened desiccated coconut

⅓ cup (125ml) plain (all-purpose) flour

½ teaspoon (2ml) baking powder

½ teaspoon (2ml) salt

¾ cup (175ml) granulated sugar

1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla essence/extract

1 cup (250ml) icing sugar, sifted

Steps

1

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line the baking pan or grease it.

2

Separate the eggs. Put the yolks in one large mixing bowl and the whites in the other.

3

Grate three teaspoons of lime from the limes and put aside. Make sure the lime has been well washed first.

4

Mix the almonds, coconut, flour, 1 tsp of the grated lime, baking powder and salt in the medium bowl. Stir evenly with a fork.

5

Beat the granulated sugar and then the vanilla essences into the egg yolks. If using an electric beater, use the medium setting. If doing by hand, whisk methodically. Turn the electric beater to high (or whisk faster by hand) until the mixture doubles in volume. This will take about 3 minutes with the electric beater and about twice that time by hand.

6

Fold the almond mixture in.

7

Wash egg beaters or whisk well and dry thoroughly. Beat the egg whites on high speed or quickly until stiff peaks form. Stir a third of this mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Once mixed in, gently stir in the remainder. Do not mix too much, mix only until the white streaks disappear.

8

Pour the mixture into the cake pan and smooth.

9

Place in the center of the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

10

Add icing. Squeeze two tablespoons (30ml) of lime juice from the limes into a bowl. Add the icing sugar and the remaining grated lime peel. Mix to form icing.

11

Remove the cake from the oven and leave to sit on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes to cool. Run a knife tip around the edge of the cake to separate from the pan and release the hinge of the pan.

12

Put the cake on its serving plate and add the icing. It is fine to let it run down the sides of the cake; this adds to the effect.